Meeting individual customer needs is nowadays an important success factor in the face of global competition. Local markets and increasing customer segmentation are leading to a far greater range of variants, even for manufacturers of archetypal series products. The dilemma faced by manufacturers is that product variants generate additional costs throughout the entire process, from development to validation to production and service; costs, which if they get out of hand, quickly outweigh any benefit.

Sustainable product management and cost control must therefore start where the number of variants is defined and where the majority of the product characteristics and product costs are specified, namely in the development phase. It is the development process alone that can ensure that the constant stream of requirements from the market, the customers and project management are met. This is where technical validation, cost control and any necessary adaptation of the modules and product platforms (modular systems), as well as ultimately configuration management and proper product documentation, take place. Systematic variant management that takes account of corporate objectives is therefore inextricably linked to product lifecycle management (PLM). 

Digital Engineering Magazin No. 8, October 2014